The present invention pertains to designing and creating parcel labels for shipping parcels, and more particularly to a system for designing parcel labels that enables a design having a two-dimensional bar code.
Parcel labels, such as shown in FIG. 3, are often designed and stored in a label design file on a computer, and when a particular kind of label is needed for shipping a parcel, the corresponding designed label is selected from the label design file, usually in a computer database, and printed, along with data, creating a label that can be affixed to a parcel to be shipped. The data on the label is the information not already included on a label by design, i.e. the variable information. In some cases, the data includes the recipient address information and other information needed to deliver the parcel and to track the parcel in the course of its delivery. In other cases, however, the label may be intended for use for shipping items to a particular recipient, in which case all or part of the shippee address might be included in the label design, but the shipper address might vary (because the shipper might ship to the same recipient from various locations).
For example, FIG. 3 shows a uniform commercial carrier (UCC) label format specification 50 for a label design intended for use by UARCO incorporated when shipping a manufactured item to Jumbo Sports, a retailer. The label format specification 50 is for a kind of label called a compliance label, because it does not specify a carrier or a type of delivery (such as ground or overnight). The UCC label format specification allows different labels to be designed by providing for optional uses of different portions of the label, such as the portion 51 for indicating either a carrier name, a bill of lading number, or other items of information. Some of the information shown on the sample printed label 52 is data, i.e. it is information varies from printed label to printed label according to the same design, and some other of the information is design information, i.e. it is designed into the label. On the sample printed label 52, the larger pitch text in a portion 54 (such as the text xe2x80x9cCARRIER:xe2x80x9d in the portion 54 allowing optional uses) indicates that the printed information is designed into the label.
Another kind of label is a so-called shipping label, and includes more detail in the design, such as that the label is suitable only for use when shipping by a particular carrier, and possibly for a particular type of delivery. The present invention is concerned with creating a design for either kind of label.
A design is sometimes created according to the following scenario. A label designer receives from a label owner (Jumbo Sports in the above example referring to FIG. 3) a set of specifications for a label. The label designer then designs the label and saves the design in a computer file. The computer file is then provided to the label user, such as a company that ships merchandise to the label owner. Thus, the label owner is sometimes a recipient. When a user sends merchandise to the label owner, the user provides whatever information not already designed into the label, such as the precise location from which the parcel is being shipped.
Other scenarios are possible, including a scenario in which the label owner is instead the user (sender) of a label, and uses the label design to create labels for use in sending merchandise to customers in response to orders.
In some cases, the label designer uses either a graphical user interface (GUI) or a more specialized interface for designing a label. An example of a specialized interface is one provided on an AS/400 computer system (which may not provide a GUI interface).
The prior art teaches label designer systems for designing labels having so-called one-dimensional bar codes printed on a label. These bar codes provide one level of information in the space they occupy. More recently, two-dimensional bar codes have been developed to encode significantly more information in substantially the same area on a label. The Maxicode bar code is 1xe2x80x3 by 1xe2x80x3 and can encode 99 bytes of information. The PDF417 bar code, also a two-dimensional bar code, is variable length and can encode up to 350 bytes of information.
What is needed is a system for designing labels that allows designing a label with two-dimensional bar codes. Further what is needed is a system that allows designing a label so as to include a mechanism by which to detect forgery of a bar code. Still further what is needed is a system that automatically determines a sufficiently unique, single parcel identifier from individual identifiers of various elements of a parcel, such as the package type, the manufacturer identifier, and the serial number of the type of packaging (indicating the particular type of packaging); ideally, such a parcel identifier is then designed into the bar code of a label.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a parcel label design system and corresponding method, the system including: a label specification encoder, responsive to a label design specification, for providing a neutral language specification of the label, the neutral language specification suitable for automatic translation into control codes and printer commands for a plurality of types of label printer; and a label design generator, responsive to the neutral language specification for a label design, and further responsive to a target printer type, for providing a printer-specific label design.
In some aspects of the invention, the label design specification includes a specification of a two-dimensional label.
In another aspect of the invention, the label specification encoder includes a means for generating a check digit, as part of a bar code, for detecting tampering of the bar code. In a further, related aspect of the invention, the check digit is computed as a mathematical combination of pre-determined weights associated with each bar of the bar code, the value associated with each bar of the bar code, and a predetermined scaling operation to ensure that the check digit falls within a pre-determined range.
In another aspect of the invention, the label specification encoder includes a copy field capability, for generating a parcel identifier from a package type indicator, a manufacturer identifier, and a package serial number.
In yet another aspect of the invention, the label specification encoder enables field masking so as to create from a single stored field a plurality of printed fields separated by one or another delimiter.
In yet a still further aspect of the invention, a printer application program interface (API) is also provided, for printing a label with data (information specific to a parcel). The printer API is responsive to the printer-specific label design, and further responsive to the parcel-specific data.